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I believe that a Lead should ideally know and practice hundreds of basic figures and moves, but only use a small selection in any one dance. It is better to use 10 figures 5 times in one dance than to use 50 figures one time. In the Social Dance Practica Video below, more than three minutes long, I only use a tiny subset of the most basic figures of one count of Eight. No named moves! Not even a Setenta.

Not that I am against social Rueda moves, mini-dances with a start and an ending in the Rueda format. But I am against potpourri dancing, a little bit of this and a little bit of that and then some Rumba and Afro and then some Cha-Cha-Cha.

I want to unfold and explore the potential of the core features of Casino, and to dance with the look and feel of one long inspirational sweeping flow with one start and one ending, made possible by the forward walking dance mode: The Follow steps forward by default.

The selection in the video focuses on Exhíbela (10 including 3 Sácalas), Exhíbela Inverso (4), Rodeo (8), Rodeo Inverso (6) and Coca-Cola left turns (12). The theme of the dance could be said to be “Exhíbela, Rodeo, Coca-Cola“. The next dance could have another theme, like “Paséala, Adiós, Panqué“, “Enchufla Continuado, Paseo de Ola“, “Bayamo Calvacade, “Setenta Calvacade“, etc.!

A theme is a handful of dominating figures used several times during the dance.

If I do use named Rueda moves, I only use a couple in any one dance for variation, and in order to keep the classic Cuban repertoire alive in my body memory. And when I do use named moves, I mostly skip the beginning and ending, and try to find better ways to integrate them seamlessly into my dance.

We dance to the song “Tranquilito” by the Puerto Rican band Pirulo y la Tribu. We don’t try to interpret the details of the song, we hardly understand the lyrics. We go for the overall feel of the music: “Peace, calm and quiet”, MEDITATION!

Dance Breakdown

1. Guapea. 2 times. Each time only one count of eight.
2. Enchufla. 3 times.
3. Exhibela. 7 times.
4. Exhibela Inverso. 4 times.
5. Sácala. 3 times. Like Exhíbela but with 4 steps forward.
6. Coca-Cola left turn. 12 times. 1 time on “1-2-3”, 3 times on “3-5”, 8 times on “5-6-7”.
7. Rodeo. 8 times.
8. Rodeo Inverso. 6 times
9. Dile Que No. 7 times.
10. Sombrero. 1 times.
11. Half Sombrero. 3 times.
12. Vacilala Double. 1 time.
13. Travelling Right Turn (Habanero). 5 times. 4 times on “3-5-6”. 1 time on “5-6-7”.
14. Reína. 1 time.
15. Salonéo. 3 times.
16. Casino Básico. 1 time (Just walking from Open Position to Caída).
17. Camínala. 1 time, three counts of eight.
18. Lead’s Paseo Steps. 1 time.
19. Pasea Inverso (right around the Lead). 1 time.